What’s on

20 October 2017

Cherina Darrel is a project worker for our Student Engagement Team. We spoke to her to find out more about the return of Essex Crown.

Cherina Darrel

Essex Crown is back! Can you remind us what Essex Crown is?
Essex Crown is an interdepartmental competition organised by the Essex Crown team in collaboration with all of our departments. Teams from each department will take part in a series of events to earn points and compete for the title Essex Crown Champions.

Last year was the first Essex Crown. Are you keeping the same format as last year or has anything changed?
Last year the competition lasted from December to January, but had such a huge impact that we’ve decided to host the competition over the course of the first two terms this year, so we’re kicking things off in October and the competition will run through to March which will give everyone the opportunity to get involved. We’ve also included some new aspects of the competition to shake things up a bit. So, while last year the Quest was a scavenger hunt style challenge, this year it will be a series of different challenges throughout the day. We’ve got plenty of other changes and additions lined up too, including some new activities at our Southend Campus.

Can you remind us of the different elements of Essex Crown?
There are eight elements of the Essex Crown competition:

The Riddles: We’ll be posting a weekly riddle from the Library’s Twitter page and in department common rooms for people to solve and earn points by emailing crown@essex.ac.uk with their department and the correct answer.

The Quest: This is a series of intellectual, cognitive and team-building challenges which will be taking place across our campuses. Teams can take part in as many challenges as they’d like.

The Exhibition: To earn points for their department, participants can attend and take part in any of the Essex Crown workshops hosted during the competition. This year participants will need to submit a final piece of work based on what they learn in the workshops. These will need to be digitised so they can be submit to us by email at crown@essex.ac.uk

Essex Sports events: There is a series of seven different sports competitions for people to complete, either individually or in teams. These are for people of all abilities and points will be awarded for participation and performance.

Essex Crown event of the week: Each week there will be a different Essex Crown event or activity on campus where participants can earn points. This can be anything from a volunteering event with V-Team or a lecture hosted by the University.

The Escape Room: A Nightmare Before Christmas themed game in which teams must solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to escape a secret room.

Battle of the Consoles: A one-off event where people will compete in various one-to-one games on Wii-sports, PlayStation and other consoles.

The Final Showdown: This is the final instalment of Essex Crown. The big show down. The ten departments with the most points will compete in a gameshow style event to win the title of Essex Crown Champions.

A team from last year’s competition

That sounds amazing! So Essex Crown is just for students, right?
No. We really want staff to get involved too. We’d like students and staff from every single one of our departments to work together throughout the different aspects of the competition. Essex Crown is for our whole community so whether you’re a student, student administrator or lecturer, you are 100% welcome to participate.

What are you most looking forward to this year?
I think we’re all looking forward to the Escape Room this year. It’s a new element of the competition which we’re running with Residence Life in Colchester and Southend . It will be really exciting and interesting to see people putting their problem solving skills to the test.

How can people follow what’s happening with Essex Crown?
To keep up with Essex Crown make sure you join our Essex Crown group on Facebook. You should also keep an eye out for emails from your department and we’ll be sharing content on social media through departments, the library, the Sport’s Centre and Residence Life.

13 December 2016

We speak to the team of interns behind the Essex Crown project, our exciting new inter-departmental competition.

What is the Essex Crown project?

Some of the team behind the Essex Crown.

The Essex Crown is an exciting series of events where departments compete against each other and earn points. The winning department wins a trophy.

We hope it will encourage some friendly competition and bring staff and students together, increasing the sense of community here at Essex.

How many people make up the Essex Crown team?

Since September there have been 11 Project Workers working across 8 departments.

Robin Brooker is the Essex Crown Project Lead. Robin recently graduated from Sociology, now works in the Student Engagement Team and is going to be studying at Oxford in September.

Laura Wright is the Events Team Leader. Laura is a Philosophy graduate and a Project Worker in SPAH. Laura is fantastic at organising events, including organising our team Christmas meal.

Jordan Davis and Nicola Davey are part of the Events Team and have been working with Laura to develop the events programme for Essex Crown. Jordan is a Computer Science graduate and is working in CSEE. Jordan has been putting his computer skills to the test to plan the Battle of the Buttons event and support the marketing and promotion team.

Nicola worked as an intern in the Sociology department last year and now works in Sociology with Shovita Adhikari.

Zoe Dexter is the Resources and Budgeting Team Leader. She is a Government graduate working in the Government department.

Eleanor is a Lang and Ling graduate working in the International Academy. She has secured some interesting props to use as part of the promotional events.

Alison Anderson has also been working with Eleanor and Zoe. Alison is an HHS graduate and has been working in the department since September.The team have been working hard to recruit staff and volunteers in departments to help get department teams together. Look out for our volunteers in their special Essex Crown t-shirts.

Sam Cannon is the Marketing and Promotion Team Leader. Sam is a LiFTS graduate working in the LiFTS department.

Cass Wood and Tosin Oshodi have been working with Sam in the marketing and promotion team. Cass is a LiFTS graduate but is working in HHS with Alison. Tosin is a Law graduate and is back supporting students in the Law department. The team has been creating the promotional materials for the Essex Crown, including flyers, posters, banners, videos and widgets. Keep an eye out for that Essex Crown logo.

There are two new Project Workers that have just joined the team. Demi Teager; a LiFTS graduate; starting in Biological Sciences next week and Daniel Tene, a Sociology graduate, working in Language and Linguistics.

OK, that’s the official introductions. Tell us what you like to do outside of work.

Robin’s favourite band is The Killers and he is teaching himself how to play the piano.

Laura likes socialising with friends and family.

Jordan is in to gaming and is a big fan of the Walking Dead.

Nicola is the chair of a community centre and recently organised a Christmas Fayre.

Zoe plays squash competitively and was President of the University Squash Club as a student.

Eleanor loves baking and often makes cakes for friends and family.

Alison likes cleaning and spending time with her family.

Sam likes running, playing the guitar and playing the piano.

Cass is currently collaborating with his brother who works in illustration. They are working on content to promote on their self-built websites to gain interest from publishers.

Tosin is a TV presenter and has her own blog.

Shovita loves spending time with her child.

Daniel likes playing the guitar, playing video games and socialising with friends.

Demi was very excited that she was able to put up her Christmas tree up over the weekend.

So, what events do you have lined up for staff and students?

Promoting the Essex Crown.

There are four main events taking place as part of Essex Crown.

The Exhibition where teams will work on a project/piece of work relating to the theme ‘Essex Community’.

The Quest which is like a scavenger hunt around campus with a final riddle to solve at the end to unlock points for your department.

The Contest is a department vs department team activity.

The Battle of the Buttons is a video games evening.

There will also be daily puzzles and conundrums for students and staff to complete to gain points for their department. Look out for the Essex Crown logo at other events across the University to earn points for your team.

The departments in the top eight will be invited to take part in The Final Showdown, which will feature well known game show rounds, to be crowned winners.

How will people earn points toward the Essex Crown?

Eleanor and Laura.

Just make sure you turn up! If you go to any event with an Essex Crown logo, you’ll win points for your department. For the main main events, where teams are entered, points will also be awarded to spectators. You can also get extra points if UG, PG and staff are involved in the events.

Will the winners actually win a crown and be able to walk around campus like they’ve inherited the Iron Throne?

Unfortunately, the budget doesn’t stretch as far as a crown (not this year anyway). The winning team will be awarded with a specially designed Essex Crown trophy that can take pride of place in their department. There will also be awards for the winners of the main events.

When will we find out who’s won?

The top placed team in The Final Showdown will be the winners of the Essex Crown. To ensure your department gets the chance to take part, make sure you get involved.

19 March 2015

Come along to the Jobs and Opportunities Marketplace on Tuesday 21 April, from 11am – 3pm in Squares 2 and 3.

Interested in meeting local employers with jobs and opportunities for students and graduates?

Come along to the Jobs and Opportunities Marketplace on Tuesday 21 April, from 11am – 3pm in Squares 2 and 3.

From full-time permanent graduate jobs, to regular part-time opportunities and summer jobs, we have invited a great and diverse range of employers onto campus who are hiring students now.

It’s the first week back after Easter so it’s a great chance to think about gaining some experience and boosting your income over summer by finding a job.

Fancy working at the V Festival? Look out for the SES Group who are hiring staff for various festivals and events this summer. Or perhaps office work is more your thing? Colchester Institute and Call Assist will be on campus searching for students to fill their vacancies now. We also have some local charities attending who want to find students just like you to volunteer!

Make sure you search for #JOMP2015 in events on CareerHub for an up to date list of employers who will be attending and for more information.

#JOMP2015 is a fantastic chance for students to find real, paid work for this summer and beyond, so put the date in your diaries and seize the opportunity to work and earn!

Help raise awareness for autism by wearing your brightest, craziest and most fabulous socks for the day. After all, there’s nothing like dressing up and we bet that everyone has at least one pair of silly socks that they can put on and raise money on Silly Sock Day for Autism Anglia on Monday 30 March.

Anyone can take part by wearing their silliest socks, donating £2 and helping us to raise awareness. We will even take a giant photo of everyone participating so please spread the word. Don’t forget that silly sock day is happening just before World Autism Awareness Day which is on the 2nd April.

You can also text SOCK15 £5 (or another amount of your choice) to 70070 to make a donation.

Think globally, act locally, and make a change for the better on campus.

Research is an essential part of the student experience at Essex. To help our students make the connections between the work they do in the classroom and what it means to study at a research-intensive University, we have created a new event – Challenge Essex.

The event will take place over three days from 8 – 10 June in the summer term.

Envisaged to be a creative, intensive and competitive consultancy challenge, Challenge Essex will provide you with the opportunity to work in groups to tackle globally significant problems and design solutions to improve the world around you. The challenge will relate to food, health and wellbeing on campus, and the winning team will have their solutions put into practice. Participation and active contribution towards your team’s solution and output will also count towards the Big-e award, and be a valuable addition to CVs.

By participating in this challenge you will have the opportunity to develop crucial attributes such as:

critical thinking

creativity

problem-solving skills

team work

communications skills

intellectual independence

Places are limited and will be allocated to those students who can make the best case for being involved. Sign up immediately and tell us in less than 100 words why you should be part of the exciting launch of Challenge Essex event.

Our ground breaking Something Fierce exhibition is open again – giving you another chance to explore the foundation of the University of Essex as a new University determined to look to the future and break with tradition.

The exhibition – hosted at the Hexagon – celebrates the bold, ‘brutalist’ sixties architecture of the Colchester Campus; the unique academic vision and the vibrant community of scholars and students they created.

Opening dates and times

Tuesday 28 April – Monday 4 May 2015

Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 July 2015

On these dates the exhibition is open 11am – 5pm from Tuesday to Friday, and 12pm – 4pm on Saturday.

Together they discuss the ideas behind ‘Outwith’ and why, for the last five years Sally Underwood and Roxy Walsh have worked collaboratively. Developing a symbiotic relationship where painting and sculpture respond to each other, they dissolve distinctions while inhabiting the same space.

Pull up a seat, grab a beer and find out more about a fascinating partnership that has created this inspiring and thought-provoking show.

5 February 2015

As part of National Student Money Week (9th -13th Feb), the University of Essex will hold a variety of events for students some of which include Student Advice and Support, Clothes Swap and making a Valentine’s card.

2 February 2015

Thinking of continuing your studies? Find out more at Postgraduate Month 18 February until 20 March

We know you’re busy thinking about your post-study life. You might be looking around for a shiny new job or you might be considering taking your studies further. To help you with your decision making we are running a Postgraduate Month (18 February until 20 March) across our University with an excellent selection of events (and lots of free food!)

London Postgraduate Event

Did you know that Essex is in the top 5 in the UK for social science research? With this event we’ll be taking our University on tour and setting up in the Bishopgate Institute. Our keynote lecture will be delivered by Dr Jeffrey Howard who will talk about ‘The Politics of Evil’. We will also have several academics from economics, sociology, politics and business available for you to talk to. Places are limited to make sure you book as soon as you can:

We understand that there are fewer things better in life than free Coffee and Cake. Take this opportunity to talk to members of our Graduate Admissions and Student Recruitment Teams in the SU Bar. We figure that this is going to be a popular choice so we’e running it twice. To make sure we have enough cake please book your place below:

There’s so much more to postgraduate life than just studying. The SU will be holding Postgraduate Night to give you the chance to meet current postgraduate students and find out more about what it is actually like to be a postgraduate student. Society and SU representatives will be available to answer all of your questions while you relax with a mocktail in Top Bar. To get sipping, visit the SU sabbs page on tumblr.

Finance and funding is often one of the central factors when deciding on whether to continue your studies. The good news is we have lots of funding opportunities available for you. After the presentation, we will have a panel of the key people who can answer all your questions about university funding. It might not be your idea of an exciting afternoon out, but it is important – so important that we’re repeating it all twice. To book a place and find out more please see:

Postgraduate study is all about looking at a subject in a new and in depth way so why not test your skills at one of our THINK! seminars? The March seminars will look at the issues around animal rights. To stretch yourself and look a little deeper, head to:

Alongside these events many departments are organising their own events and tasters so keep your eyes and ears peeled for new events coming up.

You may feel like you already know what Essex has to offer, but we hope to take this chance to surprise you and make you think. You have Essex spirit and you’re exactly what we are looking for, so why not take the next step in your studies with us?

If you have any questions about postgraduate month or about any of the events, just get in touch (slambe@essex.ac.uk).